The 77th Guards Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II.

The division traces its history to the 21st Division of the Moscow People's Militia, formed in July 1941; in August–September 1941 the division became the 173rd Rifle Division (2nd Formation). From the northern autumn of 1942, the division participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, leading the defensive and offensive operations north-west of Stalingrad and in the city; in accordance with Order of the NKO number 104 dated March 1, 1943 173rd Rifle Division was converted to 77 Guards Rifle Division – for successful combat operations on the Stalingrad front.

Reduced to 10th Brigade 1946–52, became 77th Guards Motor Rifle Division 1957 at Arkhangelsk;[2] in the northern autumn of 1989 transferred to the Northern Fleet and became a coastal defence division.[3] Reduced to 163rd Separate Coastal Defence Brigade on 1 December 1994. Brigade disbanded 1 March 1996, on November 28, 1998, the divisional banner and other regalia was given to the 332nd Naval Infantry Battalion of the Caspian Flotilla, which became the 600th Moscow-Chernigov Naval Infantry Battalion. Reformed as 77th Brigade in December 2000,[4] but disbanded in March 2009, though it appears the two separate subordinate Naval Infantry battalions remained.[5]

1.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states

2.
Red Army
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The Workers and Peasants Red Army was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and after 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution, the Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. The Red Army is credited as being the land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II. During operations on the Eastern Front, it fought 75%–80% of the German land forces deployed in the war, inflicting the vast majority of all German losses and ultimately capturing the German capital. In September 1917, Vladimir Lenin wrote, There is only one way to prevent the restoration of the police, at the time, the Imperial Russian Army had started to collapse. The Tsarist general Nikolay Dukhonin estimated that there had been 2 million deserters,1.8 million dead,5 million wounded and 2 million prisoners and he estimated the remaining troops as numbering 10 million. Therefore, the Council of Peoples Commissars decided to form the Red Army on 28 January 1918 and they envisioned a body formed from the class-conscious and best elements of the working classes. All citizens of the Russian republic aged 18 or older were eligible, in the event of an entire unit wanting to join the Red Army, a collective guarantee and the affirmative vote of all its members would be necessary. Because the Red Army was composed mainly of peasants, the families of those who served were guaranteed rations, some peasants who remained at home yearned to join the Army, men, along with some women, flooded the recruitment centres. If they were turned away they would collect scrap metal and prepare care-packages, in some cases the money they earned would go towards tanks for the Army. Nikolai Krylenko was the supreme commander-in-chief, with Aleksandr Myasnikyan as deputy, Nikolai Podvoisky became the commissar for war, Pavel Dybenko, commissar for the fleet. Proshyan, Samoisky, Steinberg were also specified as peoples commissars as well as Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich from the Bureau of Commissars, at a joint meeting of Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, held on 22 February 1918, Krylenko remarked, We have no army. The Red Guard units are brushed aside like flies and we have no power to stay the enemy, only an immediate signing of the peace treaty will save us from destruction. This provoked the insurrection of General Alexey Maximovich Kaledins Volunteer Army in the River Don region, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk aggravated Russian internal politics. The situation encouraged direct Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, a series of engagements resulted, involving, amongst others, the Czechoslovak Legion, the Polish 5th Rifle Division, and the pro-Bolshevik Red Latvian Riflemen. The Whites defeated the Red Army on each front, Leon Trotsky reformed and counterattacked, the Red Army repelled Admiral Kolchaks army in June, and the armies of General Denikin and General Yudenich in October. By mid-November the White armies were all almost completely exhausted, in January 1920, Budennys First Cavalry Army entered Rostov-on-Don. 1919 to 1923 At the wars start, the Red Army consisted of 299 infantry regiments, Civil war intensified after Lenin dissolved the Russian Constituent Assembly and the Soviet government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, removing Russia from the Great War

3.
Battle of Stalingrad
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Marked by fierce close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians by air raids, it is often regarded as one of the single largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. German forces never regained the initiative in the East and withdrew a vast military force from the West to replace their losses, the German offensive to capture Stalingrad began in August 1942, using the German 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army. The attack was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble, the fighting degenerated into house-to-house fighting, and both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By mid-November 1942, the Germans had pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost into narrow zones along the west bank of the Volga River. On 19 November 1942, the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, the Axis forces on the flanks were overrun and the 6th Army was cut off and surrounded in the Stalingrad area. Adolf Hitler ordered that the stay in Stalingrad and make no attempt to break out, instead, attempts were made to supply the army by air. Heavy fighting continued for two months. By the beginning of February 1943, the Axis forces in Stalingrad had exhausted their ammunition, the remaining units of the 6th Army surrendered. The battle lasted five months, one week, and three days, elsewhere, the war had been progressing well, the U-boat offensive in the Atlantic had been very successful and Rommel had just captured Tobruk. In the east, they had stabilized their front in a running from Leningrad in the north to Rostov in the south. There were a number of salients, but these were not particularly threatening, neither Army Group North nor Army Group South had been particularly hard pressed over the winter. Stalin was expecting the main thrust of the German summer attacks to be directed against Moscow again, with the initial operations being very successful, the Germans decided that their summer campaign in 1942 would be directed at the southern parts of the Soviet Union. The initial objectives in the region around Stalingrad were the destruction of the capacity of the city. The river was a key route from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea to central Russia and its capture would disrupt commercial river traffic. The Germans cut the pipeline from the oilfields when they captured Rostov on 23 July, the capture of Stalingrad would make the delivery of Lend Lease supplies via the Persian Corridor much more difficult. On 23 July 1942, Hitler personally rewrote the operational objectives for the 1942 campaign, both sides began to attach propaganda value to the city based on it bearing the name of the leader of the Soviet Union. The expansion of objectives was a significant factor in Germanys failure at Stalingrad, caused by German overconfidence, the Soviets realized that they were under tremendous constraints of time and resources and ordered that anyone strong enough to hold a rifle be sent to fight. If I do not get the oil of Maikop and Grozny then I must finish this war, Army Group South was selected for a sprint forward through the southern Russian steppes into the Caucasus to capture the vital Soviet oil fields there

4.
Arkhangelsk
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Arkhangelsk, also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, in the north of European Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea, the city spreads for over 40 kilometers along the banks of the river and numerous islands of its delta. Arkhangelsk was the seaport of medieval and early modern Russia until 1703. A1, 133-kilometer-long railway runs from Arkhangelsk to Moscow via Vologda and Yaroslavl, and air travel is served by the Talagi Airport and a smaller Vaskovo Airport. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 348,783, down from 356,051 recorded in the 2002 Census. The arms of the city display the Archangel Michael in the act of slaying the Devil, legend states that this victory took place near where the city stands, hence its name, and that Michael still stands watch over the city to prevent the Devils return. Vikings knew the area around Arkhangelsk as Bjarmaland, ohthere of Hålogaland told circa 890 of his travels in an area by a river and the White Sea with many buildings. This was probably the later known as Arkhangelsk. According to Snorri Sturluson, Vikings led by Thorir Hund raided this area in 1027, in 1989, an unusually impressive silver treasure was found by the mouth of Dvina, right next to present-day Arkhangelsk. It was probably buried in the beginning of the 12th century, most of the findings comprised a total of 1.6 kilograms of silver, largely in the form of coins. Jewelry and pieces of jewelry come from Russia or neighboring areas, the majority of the coins were German, but the hoard also included a smaller number of Kufan, English, Bohemian, Hungarian, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian coins. It is hard to place this find historically until further research is completed, there are at least two possible interpretations. It may be a treasure belonging to the society outlined by the Norse source material, generally such finds, whether from Scandinavia, the Baltic area, or Russia, are closely tied to well-established agricultural societies with considerable trade activity. Alternatively, like the Russian scientists who published the find in 1992, in the 12th century, the Novgorodians established the Archangel Michael Monastery in the estuary of the Northern Dvina River. Written sources indicate that Kholmogory existed early in the 12th century and it is not known whether the origin of this settlement was Russian, or if it goes back to pre-Russian times. In the center of the town that is there today is a large mound of building remains and river sand. The area of Arkhangelsk came to be important in the rivalry between Norwegian and Russian interests in the northern areas, from Novgorod, the spectrum of Russian interest was extended far north to the Kola Peninsula in the 12th century. However, here Norway enforced taxes and rights to the fur trade, a compromise agreement entered in 1251 was soon broken

5.
Northern Fleet
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The Northern Fleet is a unit of the Russian Navy responsible for the defense of northwestern Russia. The fleet has access to the Arctic and Atlantic oceans from bases on the Barents, the fleet headquarters and administrative center are located at the main base at Severomorsk with secondary bases elsewhere in the Kola Bay. The fleet was established as part of the Soviet Navy in 1937, the fleet operated more than 200 submarines ranging from diesel-electric attack to nuclear-powered ballistic missile classes during the Soviet Era. A civilian Northern Fleet also existed prior to the Second World War, on June 19,1916, the Russian Empire formed the Arctic Sea Flotilla to safeguard Allied transportation routes through the Barents Sea from German naval forces. After the October Revolution, the Soviet Navy formed the White Sea Flotilla in March 1920, the White Sea Flotilla was renamed as the Naval Forces of the North Sea and disbanded in January 1923. The Northern Flotilla was formed in early 1933 by transferring patrol boats Smerch and Uragan, D-class submarines Dekabrist and Narodovolyets and these ships departed from Kronstadt on 18 May 1933 and arrived at Murmansk on 5 August. Another destroyer, another boat, another submarine, and two minesweepers joined the flotilla at Soroka in September 1933. Polyarny became the main base, and a flight of MBR-2 flying boats joined the unit at Murmansk in September 1935. The Northern Flotilla received new ships, airfields, coastal and air defense artillery, the Northern fleet blocked the Finnish military base at Petsamo through the Winter War of 1939 and 1940. By June 1941, the fleet included 8 destroyers,15 submarines,2 torpedo boats,7 patrol boats,2 minesweepers, in August 1940, the Soviets created the White Sea Military Base to defend the coastline, bases, ports, and other installations. The White Sea Flotilla was established in August 1941 under the command of Rear-Admiral M. Dolinin, subsequent commanders were Vice Admiral G. Stepanov, Rear-Admiral Stepan Kucherov, and Vice-Admiral Yuri Panteleyev. Marines and up to 10,000 Northern Fleet personnel participated in land including the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation of 1944. Northern Fleet Naval Infantry units caused tens of thousands of Nazi casualties fighting during the Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, among the air units of the Northern Fleet was the 121st Fighter Aviation Regiment. The Northern Fleet was reinforced with aircraft and ships from the Pacific Ocean and Caspian Sea. During the war, the Northern Fleet secured safe passage for 1,463 ships in convoys and 2,568 ships in internal convoys. Its submarines, torpedo boats, and aviation sank 192 enemy transport ships and 70 other hostile military ships, the Northern Fleet also damaged a total of 118 transport, military, and auxiliary ships. Soviet submarine K-21, under the command of Captain Nikolai Lunin, attacked the German battleship Tirpitz at 71°22 2N, the К-21 logbook reports observation of two torpedo explosions, but no damage is reported by German sources. Ships were lost fighting against unequal odds, patrol boat Tuman, a former trawler, was sunk by three Kriegsmarine destroyers at the entrance to Kola Bay on August 4,1941

6.
Caspian Flotilla
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The Caspian Flotilla is the oldest Russian military flotilla, stationed in the Caspian Sea. It was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in 1945, the Caspian Flotilla was created in November 1722 in Astrakhan by the order of Peter the Great. As a result of the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813, the CF remained the only military flotilla in the Caspian Sea, Baku became its main base in 1867. As the situation on the Caspian Sea stabilized in due course, by the beginning of the 20th century, it had two gunboats and a few armed steamers. The sailors of the CF were actively engaged in the movement in Baku in 1903–1905. On October 13, the Soviets renamed it to the Astrakhan-Caspian Military Flotilla, the ships of the flotilla were captured by the counterrevolutionary Centrocaspian Dictatorship in August 1918 and later regained by the Soviets after the overthrow of the Musavat government. In July 1919, the Astrakhan-Caspian Military Flotilla was combined with the Volga Military Flotilla, on May 1,1920, the Soviets established the Caspian Fleet, which comprised three auxiliary cruisers, ten torpedo boats, four submarines and other ships. Together with the Caspian Fleet, there was the Red Fleet of the Soviet Azerbaijan, stationed in Baku, both fleets completed the conquest of the Caspian Sea from the White Army. In July 1920, Caspian and Azerbaijani fleets were combined into the Naval Forces of the Caspian Sea, during the Cold War the Caspian Flotilla was used to test missile armed ekranoplanes. The Flotilla has now dropped in numbers, and the Kazakh contingent was removed to serve as a basis for Kazakhstans naval service, for several years, Russia continued to lead a joint Turkmen-Russian force based at Astrakhan. Among the Flotillas units, from 2000, has been a new Naval Infantry brigade, the headquarters and two battalions of the brigade were scheduled to be established by August 1,2000. The brigade was also to have added to it, according to the June 2000 report. The Brigades full name was the 77th Detached Guards Moscow-Chernigov Order of Lenin, also, the flotilla has received 3 new Buyan-class stealth type river gunboats built by the St. Petersburg Almaz shipyard. On 13 and 23 November 2009, there were two sets of explosions at the 31st Arsenal of the Caspian Sea Flotilla, an ammunition depot. The depot was to be closed, the first Russian warship equipped with the Caliber missile system entered service with Caspian Flotilla in 2012. As of 2016,85 percent of Caspian Flotilla consists of modern ships, in 2014-2015, Flotilla received 3 Buyan-M missile corvettes, one modernized frigate and auxiliary vessels. On 20 September 2016, Rear Admiral Igor Osipov was replaced by Rear Admiral Sergey Pinchuk

7.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker

8.
7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division
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The 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division is an elite guards division of the Russian Airborne Troops. The 7th Guards Airborne Division was formed in September 1948 based on 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment which fought in Eastern Europe in World War II, in October 1948 the division was relocated to Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Cold War period, the served in the suppression of the Hungarian. On August 1993, the division was relocated to Novorossisk, Russia and it took part in various counter-insurgency operations in the Caucasus region. On 1st December 2006 it was renamed as 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division, in 2014 the divisions 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment took part in War in Donbas. There were two separately formed 7th Guards Airborne Divisions in the Red Army and Soviet Ground Forces/Soviet Airborne Troops, the first division was formed during the Second World War at Ramenskoye in December 1942. It fought at Demyansk, Voronezh, Korsun, on the Dnieper River and it ended the war with 4th Guards Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front in May 1945. As part of a military reorganization, this division was retitled the 115th Guards Rifle Division in June 1945. The second formation of the 7th Guards Airborne Division was started in September 1948 based on 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment, the first formation of the division was formed during the Second World War at Ramenskoye in December 1942. It fought at Demyansk, Voronezh, Korsun, on the Dnieper River, anxious to meet the Allies, he sent out scouts. At midnight, he met Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart, commander of the U. S. 65th Infantry Division, for the duration of their presence on the Danube river, both commanders continued to cooperate in an unusually effective manner. Twenty years later, public affairs officer Captain John J. Pullen described their first cordial encounter for the National Observer, for the 50th anniversary, Erlauf erected a Soviet-sponsored memorial. It features a girl, linking arms with a GI on her right. As part of a military reorganization at the end of June 1945. The 22nd Guards Tank Division was activated on 4 June 1957 in Novomoskovsk, Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, the baptism of fire of the second formation divisions predecessor regiment took place in 1945, fighting around Lake Balaton under the 37th Guards Rifle Corps, 9th Guards Army, 3rd Ukrainian Front. On 26 April 1945, the 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 103rd Guards Rifle Division was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, second class, in commemoration, the divisions official day is 26 April, by an order of the Defense Minister of the USSR. At the end of the war, the 322nd Guards Rifle Regiment was in the city of Trebon, during the war, the regiment was thanked on six occasions by the Stalin, the Supreme Commander. In all 2,065 of its soldiers, sergeants and officers were decorated for valor, the division was relocated to the cities of Kaunas and Marijampole, Lithuanian SSR

9.
242nd Training Centre
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The 242nd Training Centre of the Airborne Forces is a brigade-sized training formation of the Russian Airborne Troops. The Deputy Commander of the Airborne Troops, Lieutenant-General Vasily Margelov, the formations birthday is 17 September, when the formation of the division was completed and Major General N. G. The vast majority of officers had experience in training units of the regimental schools, among the officers selected to staff the training centre were 131 veterans of the Great Patriotic War. The division consisted of three training Airborne Regiments, 301st and 304th Training Airborne Regiments - Ostrov,302 - Cheryokha, however, for unclear reasons, the division was soon renamed the 44th. Also the regiment numbering changed, instead of, respectively, the 302nd and 304th, the regiments were not Guards units either. In September 1961, available stocks, weapons, military equipment, the Divisional Headquarters and the 301st Regiment were established at Gaižiūnai, the 304th Regiment at Rukla, and the 1120th Training Artillery Regiment in the city of Prienai. Apparently, after the relocation, the division and its regiments were renumbered, the division thus became the 44th Airborne Ovruch Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Division. This apparently meant the division had inherited the honours of the wartime 4th Guards Airborne Division, which was given the title Ovruch in November 1943. The 4th Guards Airborne Division, formed from the 1st Airborne Corps at Moscow in December 1942, fought at Kursk, Orel, Zhitomir, Korsun, Targul Frumos, Debrecen, and Budapest. Of the old division in Cheryokha remained only the 226th Training Airborne Regiment which stayed there until 1969. On 15 May 1972, the 332nd School for Praporshchiks was formed in Gaižiūnai from the 226th Training Airborne Regiment. On 1 December 1987 in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Defence of the Soviet Union of 18 August 1987, the 44th Training Airborne Division was renamed the 242nd Airborne Training Centre. In accordance with the directive of the Defense Ministry on 13 November 1992, shortly after the relocation, the 301st Training Airborne Regiment was disbanded, and the 1120th Training Artillery Regiment was moved to Ishim in Tyumen Oblast. The training centre headquarters is located in the village of Svetloe in the Omsk Oblast. In the years since its relocation to Omsk the formerly division-sized formation has shrunk to the size of a brigade, in July 2015, a barracks of the centre in the village of Svetloe collapsed, killing 23. Colonel Oleg Ponomarev, who commanded the centre at the time, was arrested, colonel Arkady Furdeyev replaced him in command of the centre in late August. Russian-language source on 242nd Training Centre Bonn, Keith E. ed. Slaughterhouse, slugin, S. A. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны, от Красной Армии к Советской. Tomsk, Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing, schofield, Carey, The Russian Elite, Inside Spetsnaz and the Airborne Forces, Stackpole/Greenhill,1993

10.
76th Guards Air Assault Division
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The 76th Guards Air Assault Division is a division of the Russian Airborne Troops based in Pskov. The division traces its lineage back to the 76th Guards Rifle Division, the division fought in the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper, Operation Bagration, the East Pomeranian Offensive, and the Berlin Offensive. Postwar, it was converted into an airborne division, the division moved to Pskov, its current base, in 1949. The division was involved in Black January and the January Events in Lithuania, after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union the division became part of the Russian Airborne Troops. The division fought in the First Chechen War, Second Chechen War, the division became an air assault division in 2006. It was involved in the Annexation of Crimea and the War in Donbass, the 76th Air Assault Division was originally established in 1939 as the 157th Rifle Division. On 1 March 1943 it became the 76th Guards Rifle Division for its actions in the Battle of Stalingrad, Major General Alexander Kirsanov commanded the division. The division fought in the Battle of Kursk, fighting in the part of the Kursk Bulge. Until 3 July the division was part of the Bryansk Front in the area of Belyov, on 12 July the division began the crossing of the Oka. By the end of the day the division had captured bridgeheads, the division received thanks from the Supreme Commander for this action. On 8 September, the division began to advance from the Oryol area to Chernigov, after three days the division had advanced 70 kilometers and reached the village of Tolstoles on 20 September, three kilometers northeast of Chernigov. The division then helped capture the city and advanced to the west, by an order of the Supreme Commander on 21 September the division was thanked and awarded the honorific Chernigov. The division then advanced into Belarus and it became part of the 1st Belorussian Front. On 17 July 1944 it began an attack northwest of Kovel, on 21 July the vanguard of the division moved north towards Brest in heavy fighting. On 26 July, troops advancing from the north and south linked up 20 to 25 kilometers west of Brest, German troops in the area were surrounded. For its actions in the capture of Brest, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, on 25 January 1945, the division, as part of the 2nd Belorussian Front, blocked the route out of Toruń, surrounding German forces. In late February, the division attempted to cut the road out of Konitz, German troops were able to escape in the fighting. On 23 March the division captured Sopot and advanced to the Baltic Sea, by 25 March it had captured Oliwa and was advancing towards Danzig

11.
98th Guards Airborne Division
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The 98th Guards Airborne Division is an airborne division of the Russian Airborne Troops, stationed in Ivanovo. During the Second World War, the formation began its existence as the 98th Guards Rifle Division and it incorporated 296th Guards Rifle Regiment, 299th GRR, 302nd GRR. Formed in December 1943-January 1944 at Demitrov in the Moscow Military District and it was part of the 37th Guards Airborne Corps, 9th Guards Army on the Karelian front, on the Svir river and near Budapest in February 1945. The division ended the war near Prague, on 7 June 1946, the division became an airborne unit at Pokrovka, Primorsky Krai. It included the 296th Guards Air-Landing Regiment, the 299th Guards Airborne Regiment, on 1 October 1948, the 296th was used to form the 13th Guards Airborne Division and was replaced by the new 95th Guards Air-Landing Regiment. In 1949, the 95th became an airborne regiment, on 1 June 1951, the division relocated to Belogorsk. The 217th Guards Airborne Regiment joined the 98th from the disbanded 13th Guards Airborne Division on 30 April 1955, in April 1956, the 95th was disbanded and replaced by the disbanded 99th Guards Airborne Divisions 300th Guards Airborne Regiment. The 17th Guards Artillery Regiment also disbanded and was replaced by the 74th Guards Artillery Regiment of the 99th Division, in June 1956, the 37th Guards Airborne Corps was disbanded and the division was directly subordinated to the Airborne Headquarters. On 6 January 1959, the 243rd Separate Military-Transport Aviation Squadron was activated with the division, on 15 August 1960, the 74th Guards Artillery Regiment became the 812th Separate Guards Artillery Battalion. The battalion became the 1065th Guards Artillery Regiment on 27 April 1962, in August 1969, units of the division relocated to Bolgrad in the Odessa Military District and Chisinau and Merry Kut, Artsyz Raion. The division became involved in the major exercises South, Spring 72,73 - Crimea, Ether -74, Spring -75, Shield -79, on 1 October 1992, the 300th Guards Airborne Regiment left the division and became a separate unit. It was replaced by the 106th Guards Airborne Divisions 331st Guards Airborne Regiment, the division was relocated from Bolgrad in Ukraine to Ivanovo after the fall of the Soviet Union during May 1993. 217th Guards was moved to Ivanovo in the spring of 1993, in doing so remnants of its constituent units, such as the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment, were reorganised as Ukrainian formations. At about the time, the 300th Guards Parachute Regiment was detached. In December 1997, the 299th Guards Airborne Regiment was absorbed into the 217th Guards Airborne Regiment, today, its two regiments, the 217th and 299th, are stationed near the Ivanovo Severny military-transport airfield. However another source lists the two constituent regiments as the 217th and 331st, the later having transferred from 106th Tula Guards Airborne Division in 1998 and it took part in the 2008 South Ossetian War. Russia has been accused of, and has denied, supporting the pro-Russian separatists who battle the Ukrainian army in the War in Donbass, a battalion tactical group of the divisions 331st Guards Regiment participated in the August fighting. In February 2015, its 217th Guards Regiment and 1065th Guards Artillery Regiment were participating in the war, after duty, Bakhtin went back to the guard house without returning his weapon, and unleashed it on his comrades

12.
103rd Guards Airborne Division
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The 103rd Guards Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops. It was established in 1946 and disbanded in 1993, a year after its transfer to the Armed Forces of Belarus, the original 103rd Guards Rifle Division was formed from the previous 13th Guards Airborne Division on 18 December 1944 in Bykhaw. The division became part of the 37th Guards Rifle Corps and in February were embarked on trains, between 16 March and 1 April, the division advanced along Lake Balaton after participating in the repulse of Operation Spring Awakening. On 23 March, the division helped capture Veszprém, on 26 March Devecser, on 28 March Sárvár, on 2 April, the division captured Gloggnitz and then fought in Vienna. After the capture of Vienna in the Vienna Offensive, the division advanced westward, the division was assigned to rest and resupply in Baden bei Wien on 28 April. The division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Kutuzov 2nd class on 1 May. On the same day, its 317th and 324th Guards Rifle Regiments were awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky, on 6 May, the division marched in the direction of Vienna and on 8 May was concentrated near Traufeld. It entered Třeboň on 12 May, the division was then located at Szeged but was moved to Seltsy, Ryazan Oblast on 10 February 1946. The divisional staff began combat training of the Airborne Troops on 5 August 1946, the division was moved to the city of Polotsk in March 1947. On 1 October 1948, the 322nd Guards Airlanding Regiment was transferred to form the 7th Guards Airborne Division and was replaced by the 39th Guards Airlanding Regiment, after Mikhail Denisenko became commander of the division in December 1948, he was killed in a parachute jump in April 1949. In 1956 the 350th and 357th Airborne Regiments joined the division from the disbanded 114th Guards Airborne Division and that same year, the division was transferred to Vitebsk, still within the Belorussian Military District. In 1959, division personnel helped test the Antonov An-12 transport, in 1962, the division participated in the Exercise Vltava with other Warsaw Pact troops and received thanks from the Czechoslovak Defence Minister. The division received thanks from Grechko in July 1967 for its performance in the Exercise Dnieper, from 21 August to 20 October 1968, the division participated in Operation Danube, the crushing of the Prague Spring. The division participated in Exercise Brotherhood in Arms which was held in East Germany in 1970, in 1975, it became the first Guards Division of the Airborne Troops of the USSR to make a parachute jump out of AN-22 and IL-76 aircraft. The division also participated in Exercises Spring 75 and Vanguard 76, the 103rd Guards Airborne Division participated in the combined arms exercise Berezin in Belarus in February 1978. From the outset, they jumped with weapons and equipment, from IL-76s, the actions of the divisions personnel on maneuvers were very highly rated by Soviet military commanders. In December 1979 the division was transferred to Afghanistan, on 26 December, the division crossed the Afghan border. During the war in that country, the division was awarded the Order of Lenin, the 317th Guards Airborne Regiment withdrew from Afghanistan on 5 February 1989

13.
106th Guards Airborne Division
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The 106th Guards Tula Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Airborne Division, more generally referred to as the Tula Division, is one of the four airborne divisions of the Russian Airborne Troops, the VDV. Based in the city of Tula, to the south of Moscow and it became the 106th Guards Rifle Division in December 1944, as all the original VDV divisions and brigades were being reconstituted as Guards Rifle formations. The Divisions honorifics are Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov, though an early Western writer reported them as Dneipr-Transbaikal seemingly incorrectly, on 7 June 1946, the 106th Guards Rifle Division was converted to an airborne division at Tula, part of the new 38th Guards Airborne Corps. On 1 October 1948, the divisions 347th Guards Air Landing Regiment was used to form the 11th Guards Airborne Division and it was replaced by the new 51st Guards Air Landing Regiment, which became an airborne unit in 1949. On 5 May 1955, the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment joined the division from the disbanded 11th Guards Airborne Division, on 6 January 1959, the 110th Separate Military-Transport Aviation Squadron was formed with the division, equipped with ten Antonov An-2 transports. On 15 August 1960, the 205th Guards Artillery Regiment became the 845th Separate Guards Artillery Battalion, at the same time, the 351st Guards Airborne Regiment transferred to the 105th Guards Airborne Division and was replaced by the 105ths 331st Guards Airborne Regiment. On 27 April 1962, the 845th Separate Guards Artillery Battalion became the 1182nd Guards Artillery Regiment, the Tula Division, from that point until the present day, was to be one of the most frequently-used elements of it. Two of its regiments took part in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, as nationalist unrest grew in the southern republics of the USSR throughout the end of the 1980s, the division was deployed to Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1988 and to Fergana, Uzbekistan, in 1990. Throughout this time the division was commanded by General Alexander Lebed, in 1991, an attempted coup against the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev took place in Moscow. When they arrived, Lebed stated that he had orders to secure the Parliament building and he did not, however, give the order for his men, equipped with BMD armoured vehicles, to launch an attack. Following the failure of the coup and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in 1992, battalions of the Tula Division were attached to Group West. In March 1995, the battalions were transferred to the command of Group North and continued fighting, in May, they withdrew from Chechnya. The divisions losses in the first war are unclear,36 of its soldiers have been confirmed killed in action, the Second Chechen War began in 1999. With Moscow determined to avoid a repeat of the quagmire that the first war had become, the Tula Divisions contribution to that force was the 51st and 119th Parachute Landing Regiments. Its losses in war were still considerable but less than in the first,67 of its soldiers were reported either killed or missing in action. For its actions in the campaign, the Tula Division was awarded the MoD Pennant. On 26 April 2004, the Tula Division celebrated its 60th anniversary, in August 2014 the divisions 137th Guards Airborne Regiment had participated in the War in Donbass. On 13 August 2015, the division was given the honorific name Tula, modern Russian airborne divisions are relatively smaller formations, in manpower terms, typically, they number around over 5,000 men

14.
22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division
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The 22nd Guards Donbass Red Banner Heavy Bomber Aviation Division was a Soviet Air Forces formation. It was a Long Range Aviation division active from 1942 to 2008-9, included in the 37th Air Army High Command. Commander of the division was Major General Alexander Blazhenko and it saw illustrious service during the Second World War, including supply of the Red Army in the Demyansk Pocket and the bombing of Berlin. The division was formed at the air base Dyagilevo near the Ryazan-based 22nd Air Division, the regiments of the newly created military units were equipped with TB-3 heavy bombers. By mid-April 1942 formed the division relocated to the outskirts of Moscow airports Monino, at that time the division was part of the 6th Air Corps Long-Range. The first flights were completed April 16,1942 in North-Western Front Western Crimean, the main task was to deliver cargo troops. Crews regiments of the involved in the supply of the Red Army had kept the Germans in the Demyansk pocket. During the second half of April was carried out 324 sorties, cargoes discharged without parachutes from an altitude of 100 –400 m. In April, the division suffered the first losses - some TB-3 was shot down by night fighters, in September 1942, regiments of the division were rearmed with Li-2 aircraft, which were used as bombers. From September 1942 to February 1943 the regiments of the based on the ground Michurinsky aerouzla and worked for Stalingrad. Completed the division of war in the skies over Berlin and Swinemunde, the last raid was made on Swinoujscie May 2,1945. She became known as the 9th Guards Aviation Division Long-range, and 18 September, has become an annual day of celebration Division. Later, the order of the NKO USSR May 27,1944, to commemorate the victories in participating in the battles for the liberation of Donbass, directive of General Staff of the number Org/10/315706 December 26,1944 the division was renamed the 22nd Guards Donbass Bomber Division. For excellent military operations during World War II, the division was honored with the Supreme Commanders gratitude 13 times, in 1950, division flyers were among one of the first in the Air Force to master the new Tu-4 long-range bomber. Then, in 1955, the division was the first in Long Range Aviation to receive the Tupulev Tu-16 jet bomber, and in 1964 - the supersonic missile Tu-22. In 1986 it had mastered the long-range bomber Tu-22M3, at the armed 121st TBAP is a strategic Tu-160. The crews of the connection belongs to the leadership in the development of in-flight refueling supersonic missile, since 1980, the division was part of the 46th Air Army VGK. As of 1991 was part of the 46th Air Army, in the division were, 200th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, removed from the division in 1993 in connection with the relocation of the division from Belarus to the Urals

15.
2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division
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The 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Tamanskaya Division named after M. I. Kalinin, also known as the Tamanskaya Division, Taman Division and Taman Guards, is one of the most famous and decorated divisions of the Russian Ground Forces. The 127th Rifle Division was formed 8 June 1940 in Kharkiv, the division was initially garrisoning Kharkiv, Chuhuiv and Bohodukhiv. It was transferred to Rzhyshchiv in May 1941, the 127th Rifle Division was with 19th Armys 25th Rifle Corps, along with 134th and 162nd Rifle Divisions on June 22,1941. It formed part of the High Command reserve, by August, it was with the Front troops of the Soviet Reserve Front. At that time, the 535th Rifle Regiment has lost its way,4 August 1941, the 127th division has traversed Dnieper river 13 km south of Yartsevo as part of the general Soviet retreat. Afterwards, it was relieved of front line duty and sent to Dorogobuzh for replenishment, the for the distinguished combat service, the division was renamed to 2nd Guards Rifle Division 18 September 1941. At the end of September 1941, it fought in Hlukhiv area,3 October 1941 the division was transferred to Kursk area and fought a defensive battle around Tim town. 22 December 1941, the division has started to advance as a hart of Winter Campaign of 1941–42. Acting together with the 1st Guards Rifle Division and 87th Rifle Division, it advanced through Cheremisinovo51. 88°N37. 26°E﻿ /51.88,37.26, by 28 January 1942, the division was located in Stary Oskol. After participating in the Novorossiysk-Taman offensive in September-October 1943, the division was renamed to 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division after the city of Taman, Russia. Starting from 3 November 1943, the division acted in the spearhead of Kerch-Eltigen Operation in northern Yenikale beachhead, during the Crimean Offensive the division has liberated Alushta city 15 April 1944, acting under command of Separate Coastal Army. 19 May 1944 it was relieved from the front line duty, reassigned to the Soviet Strategic Reserve, 2nd Guards Army and it restarted combat operations 8 July 1944 after the 2nd Guards Army was given to the 1st Baltic Front. The division participated in Šiauliai Offensive and later in October 1944 - in Battle of Memel, on 2 July 1946, the division received the honorific named after M. I. The division was called to Moscow for security duties following the death of Joseph Stalin on 5 March 1953, in December 1953, the division was renamed to 23rd Guards Tamanskaya Mechanised Division. In March 1957, the division was renamed to 23rd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division, in November 1964, the division was renamed to 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division. The division has played a prominent role in two of the political crises of recent Soviet and Russian history. Boris Yeltsin delivered a speech standing on top of tank no,110, strengthening his own position significantly, both domestically and abroad

16.
5th Guards Motor Rifle Division
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The 5th Guards Zimovnikovskaya order Kutuzov II degree Motor Rifle Division, named on the 60th anniversary of the USSR, was a military formation of the Soviet Ground Forces. It traces back to the 6th Mechanized Corps created in 1940 that was destroyed in 1941 in the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the corps was reformed in November 1942 under the same name, but with a different organizational structure. In early 1943, the 6th Mechanized Corps was granted Guards status and it became the 5th Guards Mechanized Division in 1945, and subsequently the 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1965. The 6th Mechanised Corps began to form on 15 July 1940 at Bialystok in the Western Special Military District and it was attached to the 10th Army in the Bialystok area and was under the command of Major General M. G. Khatskilevich when the German Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941, the Corps initially comprised the 4th, 7th Tank Divisions and the 29th Mechanized Division, as well as smaller units. A report by Major General B. S. Vasilevich, commander of 7th Tank Division, on 4 August 1941 said that the division had been at 98% enlisted strength, the division included 348 tanks, of which 51 were KVs and 150 T-34s. However, there was lack of supplies and it possessed only one to one and a half loads of 76mm ammunition when it entered battle, no armor-piercing ammunition for its tanks, three refills of gasoline, and a single fill of diesel fuel. The fuel ran out quickly, partially due to unclear orders, the division had to move to three new assembly areas within the first two days of the war. The division was soon immobilized south of Grodno, similar to the 4th Mechanized Corps, the 6th Mechanized Corps stood out of the remaining mechanized corps of the Red Army. On 22 June 1941 it was formed, and stationed no further than 100-150 kilometers from the border. The 6th Mechanized Corps was heavily involved in the first battles with Germans, at 23,40 on the day of German invasion, Pavlov ordered his Deputy Front Commander Lieutenant General Ivan Boldin to take command over what would be later called Boldins group. The groups core was the 6th Mechanized Corps and the 6th Cavalry Corps and it is considered part of the larger Battle of Białystok–Minsk. Without adequate ammunition and with tanks in a state of disrepair and sent to several different locations without fuel reserves. A Western Front report on 27 June noted that 6th Mechanized Corps had lost 20–26% of its strength in its 4th and 7th tank Divisions. Solonin stated that the battle that 6th Mechanized Corps saw was an attack of 24 June. The corps dissipated soon without any combat, with negligible losses to aircraft. The corps scattered on 27 June near Krynki, with the personnel retreating east in small groups, communication with the headquarters of Boldin was lost and Major General Khatskilevich died on 25 June 1941. Hoths panzers had reached Vilnius on the 23rd of June, then Grodno, by 25 June 1941 Guderians 2nd Panzergruppe reached Slonim and Vawkavysk and cut off the retreat of the greater part of the 10th and 3rd Armies at Białystok encirclement

17.
6th Guards Motor Rifle Division
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The 6th Guards Vitebsk-Novgorod Motor Rifle Division -was a Soviet motor rifle division, which after the end of World War II was stationed on the Polish territory as part of Northern Group of Forces. It was the formation of the 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division. The division in Poland disbanded a tank regiment and formed a rifle regiment. Division headquarters was located in the town of Borne Sulinowo, in November 1985, the 65th Separate Air Assault Battalion was formed from the divisions 126th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion in Białogard. Between May and November 1986, the battalion was expanded to form the 83rd Separate Air Assault Brigade under the command of Colonel V. M. The Division withdrew from Poland in 1992 and was moved to Tver in the Moscow Military District where it became the 166th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, between January and July 1996 it fought in the First Chechen War. In 1996 the brigade was disbanded and converted into the 70th Guards Base for Storage of Weapons & Equipment, the 70th VkhVT was finally disbanded in 1997. The division was composed of the following units, gen. Vladimir Vasilyevich Bulgakov Andrew Wojtaszak, Kazimierz Kozlowski, Soldier Polish Western Pomerania X-XX century, the materials of scientific session of 10 November 1999, collective work. Wilson, Department of Civic Education,2001

18.
8th Guards Motor Rifle Division
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The 8th Guards Panfilov Division originally the 316th Rifle Division, is a motorized infantry division of the Military of Kyrgyzstan. Formed as a soviet Red Army division during World War II, it was dissolved in 2003, after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, reserves were mobilized to be sent to the front. On 12 July 1941, the 316th Rifle Division was established in Alma Ata, Major General Ivan Panfilov, the military commissar of the Kirghiz SSR, was appointed its commander. The reservists allotted to the 316th were mostly from the two republics and they arrived in Borovichi, near Malaya Vishera, in late August. Intense fighting against the Germans had already taken place in the region, the 316th was involved in several skirmishes, but on 8 September was consigned as the reserve of the 52nd Army. It spent a month in the rear, in early October, the Germans began their offensive on Moscow. On the 7th, Panfilovs division was transferred to the vicinity of the Soviet capital and it was assigned to Konstantin Rokossovskys 16th Army, and ordered to defend a 41-km long sector along the Ruza River, especially the highway passing through Volokolamsk. The 316th was reinforced with the 690th Rifle Regiment from the 126th Rifle Division, on the 14th, the German XLVI Panzer Corps attacked with superior forces. By the 27th, they had advanced some thirty kilometers, pushing the 316th back to Volokolamsk, on the 28th, after a day of fighting, the city was occupied. Panfilovs soldiers retreated closer to Moscow, the German Army resumed its offensive on 15 November. In the meantime, the 316th had received some of the first PTRD anti-tank rifles, on the 16th, the 46th Panzer Corps engaged the 316th in its new line of defense, near the village of Dubosekovo. The threat to the 16th Armys flank forced the Stavka to send in the reserve 78th Rifle Division and they are fanatical, never surrender and do not fear death. On the 18th, a group of journalists traveled to Panfilovs headquarters in the village of Guseniovo, as he briefed them in the open, they came under a mortar attack. The general was killed by a shell splinter, the decree came into effect on that very day, turning the 316th to the 8th Guards Rifle Division, it also received the Order of the Red Banner. It was named in honor of Panfilov on 23 November, thus becoming one of the only two Red Army divisions to be named after their commanders, along with the Chapayevska. In late 1942, as part of the Kalinin Front, the 30th Guards Regiment fought as a unit in the Battle of Velikiye Luki near the Lovat River. On 3 November, the received the Order of Suvorov 2nd Class. The 8th Guards ended the war with the 10th Guards Army, thirty-four soldiers received the highest Soviet military decoration, Hero of the Soviet Union

19.
9th Guards Motor Rifle Division
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The 9th Guards Motor Rifle Division was a Soviet Army unit initially formed as a tank corps in April 1942. In the same year, it was formed as a mechanized corps in November 1942. This unit then became a Guards mechanized corps in September 1944, following World War II, the corps were reorganized as a mechanized division in 1945 and then a motor rifle division in 1957 before being disbanded in 1958. The unit formed as the 22nd Tank Corps on 3 April 1942 and was subordinated to the 38th and 4th Tank Armies of the Southwestern and Stalingrad Fronts. In September 1942, following losses around Kalach, the corps moved into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and was reorganized as the second instance of the 5th Mechanized Corps. During 1943, the 5th Mechanized Corps was mainly assigned as a Stavka reserve asset or as a reserve of the Western Front. The corps was assigned to the 6th Tank Army in February 1944 and achieved Guards status on 12 September 1944, the 9th Guards Mechanized Corps was notable for its use of U. S. lend-lease M4 Sherman tanks during 1944-45. In October 1945, the corps, like all Soviet mechanized corps, was reorganized into a division and it was stationed at Yasnaya, part of the Transbaikal Military Districts 6th Guards Tank Army. The division included the 18th, 30th, and 31st Guards Mechanized Regiments, on 4 June 1957, the division became the 9th Guards Motor Rifle Division at Sainshand, Mongolia. The division was disbanded on 1 November 1958, the Road to Stalingrad, Yale University Press,1995 Feskov, V. I. Slugin, S. A. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны, tomsk, Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. Glantz, David, Companion to Colussus Reborn, University Press of Kansas,2005, poirier, Robert G. and Conner, Albert Z. The Red Army Order of Battle in the Great Patriotic War, Presidio Press,1985

20.
9th Motor Rifle Division
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The 9th Kursk Infantry Division was created on the 20 July 1918 as one of the first divisions of the Soviet Union during the Russian Civil War. The division was stationed in the Caucasus region, later the Transcaucasian Military District and soon renamed 9th Infantry, in 1922 the division was renamed the 1st Caucasus Rifle Division. For the 10th anniversary of Red Army on February 29,1928 the division was awarded the Honored Revolutionary Order of the Red Banner, during 1931 the division was reorganised into a mountain rifle division. On 23 February 1936 the division was awarded the Order of the Red Star, in July of the same year the division was renamed again as the 9th Red Banner Mountain Rifle Division. During the war the division was at times serving as part of the 46th, 37th, 56th, Separate Coastal, 69th, 18th, 5th Guards Army. The division took part in the Battle of the Caucasus, the division participated in the fighting for Feodosiya, Tuapse, in the Kuban and Taman Peninsula, and Krakow. Its enlisted and non-commissioned personnel came largely from the cossacks of the Kuban region, with 60th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front in May 1945. Its full title in 1945 was Кrasnodar Red Banner, Order of Kutuzov, after the war the division was returned to Krasnodar, and in 1950 the division was relocated to Maykop. After the reforms of 1956 the division became the 9th Motor Rifle Division and was based at Maykop for many years. On 12 September 1992 the division was reorganised as the 131st Separate Motor Rifle order of Kutuzov and Red Star Brigade of the 67th Army Corps, North Caucasus Military District. The battle for Grozny cost 157 casualties, including 24 officers, one warrant officer and 60 NCOs and soldiers killed and 12 officers, one warrant officer and 59 NCOs, the brigade also lost 22 T-72 tanks,45 BMP-2s, and 37 cars and trucks. Although other sources give higher losses attributed to the 81st Motor Rife Regiment which participated in the operation, the brigade was forced to withdraw from combat, was surrounded, and forced to abandon all of its equipment, with the personnel escaping individually or in small groups. From March 1995 the brigade participates in the Gudermes operation, in all the brigade suffered 1,282 casualties during the campaign. These battalions and the tank battalion are staffed completely with professional service personnel serving under the new contracts. The brigade has achieved first place in the performance assessment within the district during 2005. In 2009, it became the 7th Military Base, dzabakhidze Colonel M. V. Yevstigneyev Colonel A. E. Shapovalov Colonel S. M. Chorniy Colonel, from October 1943, General-Major P. I, savin Colonel Oleg Kozlov Major-General S. G. Sudakov Шевченко И. Ninth plastun, Moscow,1970 Петрашин И

21.
19th Motor Rifle Division
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The 19th Motor Rifle Division appears to have been formed originally in July 1922 at Tambov in the Moscow Military District as a territorial formation. In 1923 it was awarded the Tambov placename and renamed the 19th Voronezh Rifle Division, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War it consisted of the 32nd, 282nd, and 315th Rifle, 90th Artillery, 103rd howitzer artillery regiment. It entered combat against the Germans on July 19,1941 near Yelnya as part of the 24th Army of the Western Front and it participated in the liberation of the cities Elnya, Ruza, Krasnograd, Bobrynets, Bratislava, Shumla liberated September 9,1944. For exemplary performance of command assignments in Bulgaria it was given the honorary name Shumlinskoy and it boosts the Seversky Donets, Ingulets, Dniester, Prut, Southern Bug, Dnieper and Danube. During the Belgrade operation it October 1944 entered the territory of Yugoslavia, in November, Danube near apathy and in difficult conditions forested mountainous terrain led fierce battles with the Nazis on his left side. In 1944 its combat path took it through Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, for their courage in these battles and military skill he was awarded the Order of Suvorov 2nd degree. During the war it served successively with the 24th, 43rd, 5th, 20th, 3rd Guards Tank, 57th, 37th, 7th Guards, in 1942 and 1943 it defended in the Gzatsk and Kharkov areas. In 1945, the arrived in the Stavropol Military District and was stationed in Vladikavkaz. In May–June 1946, the division was reorganised into the 11th Separate Rifle Brigade, all battalions of the brigade were stationed in Ordzhonikidze. On 1 July 1949 the 11th Separate Rifle Brigade was reorganised as the 19th Mountain Rifle Division, on May 31,1954, the 19th Mountain Division was renamed the 19th Rifle Division. In March 1957 the 19th Rifle Division was reorganized as the 92nd Motor Rifle Division. According to the USSR Minister of Defense Order No.00147 of November 17,1964, in order to preserve the martial traditions, thus in 1965 it became again the 19th Motor Rifle Division. It arrived in the Caucasus region by the mid-1950s and has been stationed for years at Vladikavkaz. In the late 1980s it was part of the 42nd Army Corps at Volgograd and consisted of the 397th Tank Regiment, and the 201st, 429th, and 503rd Motor Rifle Regiments. Today after reshuffling of units during the last fifteen years it is part of the reformed 58th Army, Division honorifics are - Russian, Воронежско-Шумлинская краснознаменная, орденов Суворова, Трудового Красного Знамени. On August 8,2008, elements of the 19th Motor Rifle Division entered South Ossetia, in 2009 as part of the wider restructuring of the Russian Ground Forces the division became the 19th Motor Rifle Brigade. Slugin, S. A. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны, tomsk, Scientific and Technical Literature Publishing. Michael Holm, 19th Motor Rifle Division Michael Avanzini and Craig Crofoot, Armies of the Bear Aberjona Press, Slaughterhouse, The Handbook of the Eastern Front,2005

22.
20th Guards Motor Rifle Division
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The 20th Motor Rifle Division is a formation of the Russian Ground Forces, originally formed within the Soviet Red Army as the 3rd Mechanised Corps. The 3rd Mechanised Corps was first formed in July 1940, and it consisted of 2nd Tank Division, 5th Tank Division, 84th Motorised Division, 15th Motorcycle Regiment, an artillery regiment, and engineer and signals battalions. On 22 June 1941, the 3rd Mechanised Corps had 31,975 men &651 tanks, of which 110 were new T-34, the Corps was heavily engaged in the first battles of Operation Barbarossa, particularly during the Baltic Operation and at the Battle of Raseiniai. It stalled the Divisions advance for a day while being attacked by a variety of antitank weapons. General Erhard Raus, the Officer commanding 6th Panzer Divisions Kampfgruppe Raus, the grenades were pushed through two holes made by the gun whilst the turret had started moving again, the other five or six shots having not apparently penetrated completely. The crew had only been apparently stunned by the shots which had entered the turret. Afterwards they were buried nearby with honours by the German soldiers of the unit held up, however, by early July the Corps had virtually ceased to exist as a formation, though remnants rejoined Soviet lines later. For example, the 5th Tank Division was at Yelnya by 4 July 1941, and consisted of 2,552 men, general Lieutenant M. E. Katukov took command. It was initially assigned to the 22nd Army of the Kalinin Front and it took part in Operation Mars alongside the 22nd Army. At the beginning of Operation Mars 3rd Mechanised Corps consisted of 232 tanks, the Corps then fought in the Battle of Kursk, then fought across the Ukraine with the Central, Belorussian, and 1st Belorussian Fronts. On 23 October 1943, it was awarded ‘Guards’ status and re-designated the 8th Guards Mechanised Corps, in 1944, it took part in the Zhitomir-Berdichev, Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, Proskurov-Chernovits, and Lvov-Sandomir battles, in April gaining the Carpathian honorific. It ended the war in Berlin after participating in the Warsaw-Poznan, as part of the occupation forces, it was assigned to the 1st Guards Tank Army. In the immediate period, the Corps was reorganised as the 8th Guards Mechanised Division. In May 1957, it was reorganised as the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division, bearing honorifics, Carpathia-Berlin, in 1964, the division was transferred to the 8th Guards Army. It took part in the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia as part of the 1st Guards Tank Army, although when it returned to East Germany, became part of 1st Guards Tank Army in 1983, until 1993. The division was withdrawn from Germany in June 1993, and moved to Volgograd in the North Caucasus Military District, there it was under the command of the reduced 8th Guards Army Corps, formerly the 8th Guards Army. The division remained garrisoned in Volgograd, with parts of the division having taken part in the First, in 2009 the division was disbanded by being renamed the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. a. 133rd Independent Guards Engineer-Sapper Battalion – Leisnig 51° 21’ 40” North, 153rd Independent Chemical Defense Battalion o